As Brothers We Will Stand
by purplehairedwonder
Summary: 3.17 tag. The thing was, Kurt never admitted that the texts were cheating. And Blaine had never been happier to have a big brother to talk to.


**Author's Note:** Just something from 3.17 that was bothering me after the episode. And I couldn't pass up the chance to write some AnderBros. Story title comes from the Mumford & Sons song "Timshel."

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing you recognize.

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**As Brothers We Will Stand**

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The thing was, Kurt never admitted that the texts were cheating. It took Blaine several hours to realize it, but once the thought struck, it would not leave him alone.

After their talk in Ms. Pillsbury's office, he'd been so happy to hear Kurt's promise to be faithful and to stay in touch once he left for New York that he'd ignored the issue at hand. They'd had a fantastic session with the other Glee Club members and had later gone for coffee with Finn and Rachel. They'd talked and joked about anything and everything—except NYADA by some miracle with both Kurt and Rachel present. After a surprisingly pleasant conversation after the past few days of drama, they'd all gone their separate ways—Rachel home to her two dads for some dinner theater, Finn and Kurt to the Hudson-Hummel house to help with their weekly dinner with Burt, and Blaine back to his home.

That night, while Blaine was sitting in bed reading, his phone rang. He blinked in surprise to see Cooper's name on the caller ID. His brother had promised to call at least once a week after he'd headed back to L.A., but, knowing Cooper as he did, Blaine hadn't actually expected him to keep the promise. But, to his credit after their heart-to-heart, Cooper had really been making the effort to stay in Blaine's life.

"Hey Coop," he answered.

"_Hey little brother_," his brother replied. "_How's it going?_"

"Oh, you know. Same old. How's L.A.?"

"_Great! I've got an audition for a cell phone ad next week._"

"That's great."

"_We start filming the Free Credit Rating Today ads again next month, so just filling in the gaps until then_."

"I hope you get it, bro."

"_You just want a free cell phone_," Cooper teased.

Blaine laughed. "Okay, okay. You caught me."

"_So how's the Glee Club?_"

"Good," Blaine replied. "We had a Whitney Houston tribute assignment this week."

"_Oh_." Cooper perked up at that. He'd always had a soft spot for the dramatic divas, after all. "_That sounds great. What'd you sing?_"

"Uh," Blaine hesitated, realizing how personal that song choice had been, 'It's Not Alright But It's Okay.'"

"_I love that song,_" Cooper said. But Blaine could practically hear the moment his brother connected the dots. "_And, uh, how are you and Kurt?_"

"Oh, we're fine." Or they were now anyway.

"_Blaine…_" Cooper warned, calling the obvious B.S.

For a brief moment, Blaine wanted to tell his brother to mind his own business; he'd been absent from Blaine's life since his childhood, minus the time he took to put Blaine down, so why should Blaine tell him about his relationship problems now?

But he thought about the look on Cooper's face on the stage that afternoon they'd made amends. He thought about the fact Cooper was calling him from L.A. on a Friday night; he should be out at some trendy club, rubbing elbows with other celebrities, but instead he was talking to his little brother on the phone because he'd promised. And, more than anything, he could really use an older brother.

"We're good now," Blaine amended. "But we were on the rocks most of the week…" He told Cooper about Kurt and the text messages, about their fight in the bedroom and the song battles, and finally their couple's counseling session. "But we're going to be fine," he finished.

For a moment, Cooper was silent and Blaine felt his stomach twist nervously. "_That's good, squirt,_" he said at last.

Blaine frowned. "Thanks for the enthusiasm, Coop."

"_Look, Blaine, relationship advice is not my area of expertise. I'm not exactly giving a Master Class on dating here,"_ the elder Anderson replied quickly. "_Acting I know, dating not so much._"

"But?" Blaine prompted. "I hear a 'but.'"

"_But,_" Cooper said, stretching out the _u_ for several beats, "_are you sure you really addressed the root problem here?_"

Blaine blinked at that. They'd promised to be loyal to each other despite the distance. And that was the reason Blaine had been distancing himself from Kurt in the first place. "What do you mean?"

Cooper seemed to consider his next words carefully, which was definitely out of character for him and made Blaine nervous. "_It sounds like you talked about New York, sure. But what about those texts?_"

Blaine shook his head even though his brother couldn't see him. "I'm not following."

"_Did Kurt ever apologize for cheating?_" Blaine felt like his brother had punched him in the gut, but Cooper kept talking. "_It almost sounds like he was ignoring the problem._" When Blaine didn't say anything, Cooper tried to fill in the silence. "_Blaine, I'm sorry. I don't want to cause problems that aren't there, kiddo._"

"No," Blaine said around the lump that had formed in his throat, "you're right."

He swallowed, thinking back to all their conversations since the fight in Kurt's bedroom. Kurt had refused to see the texts as cheating then, again when Blaine had sung in Glee Club, and then had sung a song about loving someone but not changing for them. And when Blaine had broken down in Ms. Pillsbury's office, he'd said nothing but that he would talk to Blaine every day in New York. No apology, no talk about cheating, nothing. God, he was so stupid.

"_Blaine—"_

"You're right, Coop," Blaine whispered, cutting his brother off. "And I was too stupid to see it."

"_Blaine Anderson, you are not stupid,_" Cooper broke in. "_And don't ever think you are. We share the same genes after all._" Blaine huffed a laugh at that. "_You're in love with Kurt and are willing to do just about anything for him._"

Images of Kurt flashed across Blaine's mind's eye and brought warmth with them despite their differences. "I am."

"_And I think that's great, bro,_" Cooper told him. "_But, you should know, I am a protective big brother._" Blaine groaned but Cooper tsked. "_Hear me out. I know I missed a lot of time so I'm going to make up for it now. To do that, I'm going to make damn sure any guy is good enough for you before you take any big steps, like re-but enacting the end of _The Way We Were_ or something._"

"Coop—"

"_Kurt is a good guy, Blaine. He loves you. And for whatever my advice is worth, I think you should talk to him about it._"

"You think so?"

"_I talked to the kid while I was there,_" Cooper replied. He sounded sure—then again, Cooper rarely spoke without confidence even when he was spouting ridiculous crap. "_He's the one who set up our little auditorium meeting, you know._"

Blaine smiled fondly at the thought, though it was tinged with some bitterness now. "Yeah."

"_Don't let this fester, Blaine. That's what we did and we lost years between us._"

"Yeah, I guess."

"_Talk to him. I know you bury things. It's an Anderson trait,_" Cooper said, building up steam. He was on a roll at this point. "_But don't do that now. You'll regret it otherwise._"

Blaine frowned at that. "Are you speaking from experience there, Coop?"

"_Maybe._"

When it was clear there would be no more details on the matter, Blaine shrugged and plastered a smile on his face. "You know, that's good advice." He paused. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

Cooper laughed on the other end. "_Smartass._"

"Thanks, man. I mean it."

"_Happy to help, kiddo. Let me know how it turns out. I'm rooting for the two of you, you know. I like you guys together_."

"I will."

"_And if all else fails, you might try some pointing—"_

"I'll call you later, Coop," Blaine broke in with a laugh and hung up.

But once he'd set the phone down, worry settled heavy in his gut. Blaine worked so hard to avoid confrontation in his life and this last week had been hell because of it. He'd thought they'd moved past it, but Cooper was right. They hadn't dealt with all their issues at all. But Blaine couldn't go another week with this between them. Kurt had dinner with his dad tonight, but he'd call first thing in the morning…

* * *

The next evening, as Kurt and Blaine sat together on Kurt's bed for the movie marathon they hadn't gotten to earlier in the week, they had nothing physical or emotional between them for the first time in months.

And Blaine had never been happier to have a big brother to talk to.

_- fin -_


End file.
